May 08, 2025
Owen Ziliak/USA TODAY NETWORK
Brad Arnold, left, the lead singer of 3 Doors Down, says he is not afraid after being diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer.
The lead singer of the band 3 Doors Down shared Wednesday that he has stage 4 kidney cancer that has spread to his lung.
In an Instagram video, Brad Arnold said he had been feeling sick for a few weeks and was diagnosed with clear cell renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer. The band, known for early 2000s rock hits like "Kryptonite" and "Here Without You," has canceled its summer tour due to Arnold's illness. They were scheduled to play with Creed at Camden's Freedom Mortgage Pavilion on July 12.
"But you know what? We serve a mighty God, and he can overcome anything," Arnold, 46, said in his Instagram post. "So I have no fear. I am really, sincerely, not scared of it all."
The band's 2008 song, "It's not my Time," now sounds eerily prescient, with Arnold singing:
"It's not my time, I'm not going
There's a fear in me, it's not showing
This could be the end of me
And everything I know."
"I'd love for you to lift me up in prayer every chance you get," Arnold said. "I guess it's time for me to go listen to 'It's not my Time' a little bit, right? Thank you guys so much. God loves you. We love you."
Clear cell renal cell carcinoma, also called conventional renal cell carcinoma, gets its name from the tumor's bubble-like appearance under a microscope. It accounts for 80% of all renal cell cancer cases and is most common in adults. Between 2% and 6% of childhood and young adult kidney cancers are renal cell carcinoma, according to the National Cancer Institute.
The average age of kidney cancer diagnosis is 65, but renal cell carcinoma rates among people 40 and younger have been rising 3% to 5% a year. Rates in this age group doubled between 2000 and 2016, according to the Kidney Cancer Association. About 10% of all kidney cancers occur in people younger than 45.
Renal cell carcinoma seems to have a genetic component and runs in families, but, as with many cancers, its causes are not fully understood. Most kidney cancers in younger adults do not have known genetic causes,
Symptoms of renal cell carcinoma may include blood in the urine, pain in the back, fatigue and unexplained weight loss. People who feel they have worrisome symptoms should see a health care provider, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Kidney cancer that has not spread elsewhere sometimes can be treated with surgery. For cancers that have metastasized, surgery may not be possible and other treatments may be necessary, the Mayo Clinic says. Those options may include freezing or heating cancer cells, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy, which uses medicines to attack specific chemicals in cancer cells.
